Autism

Essential Reads Chosen by the editors

Autism Speaks, advocacy, and me

By John Elder Robison on March 9, 2010 in My Life With Asperger's

Readers of my blog know that I've been concerned about the direction of autism research for a long time. I am also troubled by the way we allocate dollars in general in the autism world. I'm a fairly action oriented guy, and I don't like to sit around and worry. I want to do something; I want to take action. If this were a political issue, I'd have to run for office. Read More

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Autism Speaks, advocacy, and me

By John Elder Robison on March 9, 2010 in My Life With Asperger's

Readers of my blog know that I've been concerned about the direction of autism research for a long time. I am also troubled by the way we allocate dollars in general in the autism world. I'm a fairly action oriented guy, and I don't like to sit around and worry. I want to do something; I want to take action. If this were a political issue, I'd have to run for office. Read More
How Psychologists Can Help Correct DSM5

By Allen Frances, MD on March 6, 2010 in DSM5 in Distress

The options being considered for DSM5 have finally been posted. Unfortunately, only a two month period has been allotted for comments from the field. The first draft of DSM5 contains many suggestions that will cause serious unintended consequences for mental health practice, research, and forensics. Read More
Can People with Autism Learn Implicitly?

By Scott Barry Kaufman, Ph.D. on March 5, 2010 in Beautiful Minds

Individuals on the autistic spectrum are typically characterized by social, communicative, and motor impairments. Emerging theories suggest that the real-world deficits seen in those with autism arise, in part, from a general deficit in the ability to learn things implicitly. Is this true? A recent study in The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology sheds new light on this important question. Read More
Grandin calls for mentorship at TED Talks

By Eileen Garvin on March 4, 2010 in Sister on the Edge of Autism

Temple Grandin's got a cure for America's energy problems: mentorship of the next generation of kids with autism and Asperger's. Read More
Is Autism an Imprinting Error?

By Bill Ahearn, Ph.D., BCBA-D on March 3, 2010 in A Radical Behaviorist

Imprinting establishes the parent as very important, a potent reinforcer, and a significant cue. Read More
What is Sensory Processing Disorder and How Is It Related to Autism?

By Chantal Sicile-Kira on March 2, 2010 in The Autism Advocate

A group of researchers, families, and occupational therapists is aggressively lobbying to get sensory processing disorder included in the next Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, which is currently being drafted. But what is a Sensory Processing Disorder? Read More
Sleep deprivation affects the way we interpret emotional cues

By Dennis Rosen, M.D. on March 2, 2010 in Sleeping Angels

A new study published in the March issue of the journal SLEEP* has found that sleep deprivation interferes with people's ability to distinguish between the facial expressions of others, specifically to determine whether they are happy or angry.
Read More
Lingering Lyonization: does this explain the genetics of Asperger's syndrome?

By Christopher Badcock, Ph.D. on February 25, 2010 in The Imprinted Brain

Asperger’s syndrome could have a genetic basis in the mother’s X chromosome which would explain the peculiarities of its incidence. Read More
Meet Vas in Travels With My Brother

By Eileen Garvin on February 24, 2010 in Sister on the Edge of Autism

March 5th in Toronto will see the first public viewing of Travels With My Brother, a short documentary by filmmakers Christine Alexiou and June Chua. The movie is about Christine's brother, Vas, who has autism. Read More
Do all children learn with the same teaching procedures?

By Bill Ahearn, Ph.D., BCBA-D on February 22, 2010 in A Radical Behaviorist

Having teaching procedures that are generally effective doesn't cut it. If we are interested in doing something other than leaving all children behind equally, we will need to catch those deficits in learning and remediate them. Read More
Sibs reaching sibs

By Eileen Garvin on February 18, 2010 in Sister on the Edge of Autism

When you are a sibling of a person with a disability, like autism, childhood can be a lonely time.
If, for example, your big sister is lying prone on the lobby floor at the Old Spaghetti Factory, thrashing and screaming because having to wait for a table has turned her world upside down, it can seem like no one else quite understands what you are going through. Read More
Are Children With Special Needs Favored?

By Ellen Weber Libby, Ph.D. on February 15, 2010 in The Favorite Child

When talking about The Favorite Child on the Leonard Lapote Show (NPR in New York City), a listener called in to talk about his child with special needs. This child was his favorite, and his other children were resentful. Special needs children generate unique family dynamics: Some parents favor these children while others resent them. Read More
Did Thomas Jefferson like flapping his hands?

By Bill Ahearn, Ph.D., BCBA-D on February 15, 2010 in A Radical Behaviorist

As the child with autism ages, they learn to engage in additional forms of stereotypy and, perhaps, the motivation to engage in stereotypy increases. Read More
Asperger's, Autism and Ambivalence: On Losing My Label

By Lynne Soraya on February 14, 2010 in Asperger's Diary

The DSM changes. Hot topic du jour. It seems to have engendered heated feelings on both sides. But me? I just don't know what I feel. Read More
My Diagnosis is Killing Me!

By Eliezer Sobel on February 11, 2010 in The 99th Monkey

I used to find it somewhat odd, looking around my ex-psychiatrist's office, to see how many promotional items he had scattered around. There were Pfizer note pads, Prozac pens, Merck coffee cups, an Adderal wastebasket, and Eli Lilly toilet paper. Read More
How science is using magnetic energy to rewire our brains

By John Elder Robison on February 10, 2010 in My Life With Asperger's

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Think Beyond the Label: Society’s Hopelessly Mixed Message

By Stanton Peele on February 9, 2010 in Addiction in Society

The question is, how long can we stand as a (psychological) nation divided - where we pick some traits to determine people's existences, and others to disrgard as we assist them in joining the rest of us?
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HBO's "Temple" tells the story of a person

By Eileen Garvin on February 9, 2010 in Sister on the Edge of Autism

If you didn't catch the "Temple Grandin" HBO premier on Feb.6, check out one of the many showings this coming month. You'll be glad you did. Read More
The autism-vaccines myth: The impact of the media

By Bill Ahearn, Ph.D., BCBA-D on February 8, 2010 in A Radical Behaviorist

Clearly, the media can serve to protect the public interest but more often than not they fail to do so. Read More
Diametric Cognition Passes Its First Lab Test

By Christopher Badcock, Ph.D. on February 4, 2010 in The Imprinted Brain

A key prediction of the diametric model of the mind has been confirmed by laboratory experiment: subjects with autistic versus schizotypical traits perform oppositely on a test of local versus global processing. Read More

Autism Blogs

A Radical Behaviorist
Observations and comments about autism, behavior, and learning.
By Bill Ahearn, Ph.D., BCBA-D
Asperger's Diary
Life through the lens of Asperger's Syndrome.
By Lynne Soraya
My Life With Asperger's
How to live a high-functioning life with Asperger's.
By John Elder Robison
Positively Autism
News and advice from an educator's perspective
By Nicole Caldwell
Sister on the Edge of Autism
A sibling's-eye view of autism in life, family, and culture.
By Eileen Garvin
The Autism Advocate
Practical tips and musings on raising children and teens with autism.
By Chantal Sicile-Kira
The Autism Spectrum
A cognitive neuroscientist explores autism, Asperger's syndrome, and related disorders.
By Lindsay M. Oberman
The Interactive World
Techniques for helping your autistic child and the latest news about autism.
By Jonathan Levy

Autism Basics

Autism is a complex syndrome that resulting from abnormalities in the brain's development. Common features include impaired social interactions, impaired verbal and nonverbal communication, problems processing sensory information, and restricted and repetitive patterns of behavior. A recent study of a U.S.

Go to the Autism Spectrum Basics page for more on Autism Spectrum including:

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